


Student Union

by derryderrydown



Category: British Comedian RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-02
Updated: 2010-05-02
Packaged: 2017-10-09 06:29:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/derryderrydown/pseuds/derryderrydown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the anonymeme prompt: University AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Student Union

Charlie had _thought_ being a mature student would be easy. He'd _thought_ the main problem would be learning to live on less than zero money, when he was accustomed to the vast wealth accrued from standing behind the counter of a video shop.

Yeah. He'd been a fucking idiot.

Because he hadn't been massively popular at school but he'd had people to speak to in lessons and people to sit with at lunch. Now? Now, he was ten years older than every other fucker and could only understand half of what they said.

Two months into this fucking media studies course and he was very close to jacking it in and going back to the shop. It wasn't even as if he was studying something useful like plumbing. What the hell was he going to do with a media studies degree?

He was hiding in the library, waiting for his tutorial and not at all pissing around on the internet (having bypassed the laughably crap filtering), when he was jerked out of his reverie by the slam of books hitting the floor.

Alt + f4 to get rid of the incriminating evidence and he swung round to see a man of roughly his own age, kneeling on the floor and completely failing to pick up all the books he'd dropped. Glasses, stubble and a slightly rumpled polo shirt added up to another mature student.

Halle-fucking-lujah.

Charlie abandoned the debatable joys of soft porn to help.

"Thanks," the man said, standing up with the books precariously balanced. He held out a hand and books wobbled again but Charlie grabbed them just in time. "David Mitchell."

"Charlie Brooker."

David deposited the books on the table. "Do you, ah?" He waved generally around him, which Charlie interpreted as, 'Do you study here?'

"Yeah. Media studies."

He half-expected the usual, why-the-hell-are-you-studying-that look but David just smiled. "Oh, me too!"

"Really?" Which came out so disbelieving it was positively offensive. "I mean, I haven't seen you around."

"I only just started. I, er, couldn't get away from my old job."

Charlie's smile was rueful. "Mine couldn't wait to get rid of me."

The conversation developed so comfortably that, by the time Charlie looked at his watch, it was perfectly natural to say, "Look, I've got to get to a tutorial but do you want to grab a drink afterwards?"

David blushed a little and said, "Yes. Yes, that would be lovely. What time do you...?"

"Four o'clock."

"Same as me. So, meet you here?"

"Yeah." Charlie realised he was grinning. "Four o'clock. Here." He backed away. "I've just got to, er..."

"Yes. Yes, me too. Four o'clock, then."

"Four."

Charlie finally managed to make it out of the library.

*

He got to his tutorial five minutes late and five minutes before any of the other students showed up. And the first student to show up was David.

"Oh," David said, stopping halfway through the door. "I must have got the wrong room."

"H213?" Charlie said. "No, this is it."

"But you're here."

"Yeah, it's my tutorial."

"But... it's mine as well."

"You can have more than one student in a tutorial," Charlie said with a grin.

"But you can't have more than one tutor. Oh."

"Oh," Charlie echoed. "You're the new lecturer."

"And you're... a student."

"_Mature_ student," Charlie said. "I'm probably older than you."

"You're still a student!" David said. "And I really shouldn't socialise with you."

"We can talk about the course, if you really want to," Charlie said. "I just want to talk to somebody who isn't a decade younger and stupider than me!"

David looked torn. "I'm pretty sure it's still against the rules."

"Then they're fucking stupid rules," Charlie said. "It's a _drink_. It's not like it's a date."

"It isn't?" David said. Then he cleared his throat. "I mean, it isn't. Definitely isn't."

"Oh," Charlie said, and blinked. "You thought..." He'd thought it was a date and still said yes?

"Well, it's completely irrelevant now," David said quickly. "_Obviously_, I'm not going to go on a date with one of my students."

Charlie pushed David up against the door. "Fuck dating," he said, and dropped to his knees.


End file.
